On Target

7 October
2005 Thought for the Week: "All evidence shows that 'universally-recognised
norms of conduct' are no longer based on 'the blessing of Almighty God,' but on
the religion of humanism. Mr. Richard O'Sullivan, writing in the English journal
Nineteenth Century, in May 1947, gave us the key: 'It is nowadays the common
doctrine of the Constitutional lawyers and of the politicians, who like the sense
of power and especially of absolute power (which corrupts absolutely), not only
that the Legislature has the last word in law making, a doctrine which is as old
as Augustine and even as old as the hills, but also that its power in law making
is absolute and arbitrary. Parliament is not limited by the principle of the natural
law, that is to say the ordinary moral law, nor is it limited by the law of God.
In the realm of England, according to this doctrine, men now hold their lives
on a lease not from God but from the State.'So Australia, in the 80-odd years
since Federation, has charted a new compass course, no longer steering by faith
in God, but towards a Universal State ruling through its own absolute decree,
and requiring all power for its purpose.Since Federation, the battle to centralise
power has intensified. That this was never intended as was clearly shown in the
words of Sir Henry Parkes: "I think it is in the highest degree desirable
that we should satisfy the mind of each of the colonies that we have no intention
to cripple their rights, to diminish their authority . . . It is therefore proposed
by this first condition of mine to satisfy them that neither their territorial
rights nor their powers of legislation for the wellbeing of their own country
will be interfered with in any way that can impair the security of those rights,
and the efficiency of their legislative powers." "The Threatened
Destruction of the Federal Constitution," by Jeremy Lee, 1982

AUSTRALIANS BEING SOLD ANOTHER 'PUP'?

by
Betty Luks

How large of heart, how noble and generous of spirit, must
be our illustrious leaders - Territories, State and Federal. How great must be
their concerns for the safety of their peoples. Putting aside everything that
could politically divide them they flew post haste to Canberra at John Howard's
earnest pleading. And he, our beloved federal leader, wretchedly wringing
his hands with worry at the possible fate of his people at the hands of 'terrorists'
- as yet unknown - anxiously awaited the leaders' Canberra visit.A bit far
fetched you think? A bit "over the top"? You could be right. But no
more far fetched than the idea that politicians will only use the draconian powers
they want for themselves "for our own good".The more I weigh up
what the Bush regime did - and did not do - immediately following the catastrophic
Hurricane Katrina and the 'concern' the Howard regime displays for the welfare
and safety of the Australian people from the 'terrorists', the more my suspicions
are roused.

What is the Howard regime's real agenda?The situation
is not unlike the bleating for Australia to sign the Kyoto Agreement. Dr. David
Mitchell** rightly observed there is no reason why Australians cannot clean up
their own pollution NOW it would be good housekeeping to do so! But why
do we need to sign away our national sovereignty in order to do it? You see the
'devil' is certainly in the detail!

We need a thorough briefing on just
what the so-called 'anti-terrorist' legislation will mean to our freedoms and
rights. Bear in mind, this regime has already 'privatised' the prison system.
It started with supplying private contractors for 'escort duty' to and from prisons
and courts.

"Hired Guns' used in place of our law and order forces?
To keep 'peace and order' - maybe Indonesian style? Far fetched? You decide.

BE ON ALERT FOR ALARMING LEGISLATION

Howard's proposed 'anti-terrorism' laws which will require CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
to be effective. The proposed legislation, will require acceptance by all Parliaments
- States, Territories and the Commonwealth which means major changes to the Commonwealth
Constitution WITHOUT THE PEOPLE HAVING A SAY. The proposed laws are at the
drafting stage, so, as yet, WE THE PEOPLE do not know the detail. It is important
Australians understand the importance of Constitutional change and who should
make the changes. **Send for the complete set of audio tapes of Dr. David
Mitchell's presentation of "The Spirit of Australia's Constitution and History,"
$30 posted from Mayo Tapes, P.O. Box 6, Hahndorf, SA 5245.

A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME FOR OZ? BUSH'S 'HIRED
GUNS'

As you read the following articles ponder
on the fact that recently a young 'bouncer' was taken to court and charged with
(I think) the manslaughter of David Hooks the former Australian professional cricketer.
Replace the word 'bouncer' with 'private security agent' and see what you
make of what has actually happened in America - and could be on the agenda for
Australia.

ANOTHER DAY IN THE EMPIRE

by
Kurt Nimmo, USA:

"It is now obvious how martial law (not officially
declared as such) will work in America in the wake of the devastation of New Orleans.
Instead of federal troops or an influx of National Guard troops sent to "restore
order" (the latter mandated in our now anachronistic Constitution; see Article
1, Section 8) and empowered to "suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions,"
in Louisiana the state and federal governments have brazenly violated the Constitution
by sending in Blackwater Security and other private goon squads. Heavily
armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous
for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans "

BUSH'S 'HIRED GUNS'

Jeremy
Scahill, a correspondent for the national radio and TV programme Democracy Now!Scahill
and Daniela Crespo were in New Orleans when they filed the following report, 12
September 2005:

"Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional
killers in the world. What are they doing prowling the streets of NOLA?" "Heavily
armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous
for its work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans.

Some
of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed
some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and
Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract
with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to
use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in
Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the U.S. occupation,
L. Paul Bremer and the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This
is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United
States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon
Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation
in Iraq." Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers
in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences.

Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious
concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions
about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places
like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling
the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as two weeks ago.

What
is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with
that they are here under contract from the federal government and the state of
Louisiana. Blackwater is one of the leading private security firms servicing the
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several U.S. government contracts
and has provided security for many senior U.S. diplomats, foreign dignitaries
and corporations.

The company rose to international prominence after four
of its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung from
a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive U.S. retaliation against
the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths and tens
of thousands of refugees.

Who Sent In the Mercs? As the threat
of forced evictions loomed in New Orleans and the city confiscated even legally
registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrolled
the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons. This despite Police
Commissioner Eddie Compass' claim that, "Only law enforcement are allowed to have
weapons." Officially, Blackwater says its forces are in New Orleans to "join
the Hurricane relief effort." A statement on the company's website, dated Sept.
1, advertises airlift services, security services and crowd control. The company,
according to news reports, has since begun taking private contracts to guard hotels,
businesses and other properties. But what has not been publicly acknowledged
is the claim, made to us by two Blackwater mercenaries, that they are actually
engaged in general law enforcement activities including "securing neighborhoods"
and "confronting criminals."

That raises a key question: under
what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland
Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of
no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've
got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to
meet the demands of public safety," he said. But in an hour-long conversation
with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story.

The men
we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland
Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping
in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They
told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force.

Where the Real Action isWe encountered the Blackwater forces
as we walked through the streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were
talking with two New York City police officers when an unmarked car without license
plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were three men, dressed in khaki
uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the Blackwater
guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded, "There are a bunch
of them around here," and pointed down the road. "Blackwater?" we asked. "The
guys who are in Iraq?" "Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."

A short while later, as we continued down Bourbon Street, we ran into
the men from the car. They wore Blackwater ID badges on their arms. "When they
told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?'" one of the Blackwater
men said. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in a carrying case with
the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it. After bragging about how
he drives around Iraq in a "State Department issued level 5, explosion-proof BMW,"
he said he was "just trying to get back to Kirkuk [in the North of Iraq] where
the real action is." Later we overheard him on his cell phone complaining that
Blackwater was only paying $350 a day plus per diem. That is much less than the
men make serving in more dangerous conditions in Iraq.

Two men we spoke
with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said,
they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to six months. "This
is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these
situations." If Blackwater's reputation and record in Iraq are any indication
of the kind of services the company offers, the people of New Orleans have much
to fear."

BUSH
WANTS TO SEND IN 'THE MILITARY'

According to
a CNN report, President Bush wants to make it easier for 'the military' to take
charge after a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, but the White House acknowledged
Monday the proposal raises "a lot of issues" that need resolution. Critics
argue that putting active-duty troops on American streets would violate a long-standing
tradition that keeps the military out of domestic law enforcement. But Bush wants
to improve the federal response to a "catastrophic" event like Katrina, which
left more than 1,000 people dead after it struck last month.

The US
Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 bans the armed forces from participating in police-type
activity on U.S. soil. Gene Healy, a senior editor at the conservative Cato Institute,
said Bush risks undermining "a fundamental principle of American law" by tinkering
with the Posse Comitatus Act. Healy said the act does not hinder the military's
ability to respond to a crisis. "What it does is set a high bar for the use of
federal troops in a policing role," he wrote in a commentary on the group's Web
site. "That reflects America's traditional distrust of using standing armies to
enforce order at home, a distrust that's well-justified." Healy said soldiers
are not trained as police officers, and putting them in a civilian law enforcement
role "can result in serious collateral damage to American life and liberty."

House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, told The Associated Press
he would not favor expanding the federal government's disaster response role.
"I don't want the federal government to take over disaster response, believe me,"
DeLay told the AP. "Why? Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy." Bush first
raised the issue September 15, in his speech from hurricane-battered New Orleans,
and mentioned it again Sunday during a briefing on Hurricane Rita at U.S. Northern
Command headquarters in Colorado. The administration's response to Katrina,
which struck near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line August 29, was widely criticized
by state and local officials and some residents of the affected areas.

KEEPING IT IN THE 'POLITICAL FAMILY'?

Blackwater's
success in procuring federal contracts could well be explained by major-league
contributions and family connections to the GOP. (GOP: an American acronym for
Grand Old Party - the Republicans). According to election records, Blackwater's
CEO and co-founder, billionaire Erik Prince, has given tens of thousands to Republicans,
including more than $80,000 to the Republican National Committee the month before
Bush's victory in 2000. This past June, he gave $2,100 to Senator Rick Santorum's
re-election campaign. He has also given to House majority leader Tom DeLay and
a slew of other Republican candidates, including Bush/Cheney in 2004. (Editor's
comment: it was announced on the ABC Radio Friday, 30 September 2005 that Mr.
Delay has been formally charged with a crime).

As a young man, Prince
interned with President George H.W. Bush, though he complained at the time that
he "saw a lot of things I didn't agree with--homosexual groups being invited in,
the budget agreement, the Clean Air Act, those kind of bills. I think the Administration
has been indifferent to a lot of conservative concerns." Prince, a staunch
right-wing Christian, comes from a powerful Michigan Republican family, and his
father, Edgar, was a close friend of former Republican presidential candidate
and antichoice leader Gary Bauer. In 1988 the elder Prince helped Bauer start
the Family Research Council. Erik Prince's sister, Betsy, once chaired the Michigan
Republican Party and is married to Dick DeVos, whose father, billionaire Richard
DeVos, is co-founder of the major Republican benefactor Amway. Dick DeVos
is also a big-time contributor to the Republican Party and will likely be the
GOP candidate for Michigan governor in 2006.

Another Blackwater founder,
president Gary Jackson, is also a major contributor to Republican campaigns. After
the killing of four Blackwater mercenaries in Falluja in March 2004, Erik Prince
hired the Alexander Strategy Group, a PR firm with close ties to GOPers like DeLay.
By mid-November the company was reporting 600 percent growth.

Company
hires former counter-terrorism co-ordinator In February 2005 the company
hired Ambassador Cofer Black, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the State
Department and former director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, as vice chairman.
Just as the hurricane was hitting, Blackwater's parent company, the Prince
Group, named Joseph Schmitz, who had just resigned as the Pentagon's Inspector
General, as the group's chief operating officer and general counsel. While juicing
up the firm's political connections, Prince has been advocating greater use of
private security in international operations, arguing at a symposium at the National
Defense Industrial Association earlier this year that firms like his are more
efficient than the military. In May Blackwater's Jackson testified before
Congress in an effort to gain lucrative Homeland Security contracts to train 2,000
new Border Patrol agents, saying Blackwater understands "the value to the government
of one-stop shopping." With President Bush using the Katrina disaster to try
to repeal Posse Comitatus (the ban on using US troops in domestic law enforcement)
and Blackwater and other security firms clearly initiating a push to install their
paramilitaries on US soil, the war is coming home in yet another ominous way.
As one Blackwater mercenary said, "This is a trend. You're going to see a lot
more guys like us in these situations."

Original Article
CommentIt appears from various reputable sources that FEMA (Federal Emergency
Management Agency) is the Bush Administration's great cash cow and my, how the
Republicans in charge are milking it, and the taxpayers. This money is unaccounted
for -- think of all the BMWs and new summer homes all of this money is now buying.
This helps the economy, after all.

And the Blessed Karl Rove has been
put in absolute charge of billions of dollars of "relief money." That is tantamount
of setting the fox to guard the henhouse. Documents, now being evaluated, show
that the corruption stemming from last year's hurricanes in Florida was widespread,
extensive and very pervasive. Top Republican politicians connected to the Bush
Administrations in Washington and Florida are specifically named. http://tbrnews.org/Archives/a1846.htm

MOTHER OF SLAIN SOLDIER
ARRESTED

:Cindy Sheehan, the California woman
who has used her son's death in Iraq to spur the antiwar movement, was arrested
Monday while protesting outside the White House recently. Cindy Sheehan and several
dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian
walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were
breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests. Sheehan,
48, was the first taken into custody. She stood up and was handcuffed, then led
to a police vehicle while protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching." Others
who were arrested also cooperated with police. Sgt. Scott Fear, spokesman
for the U.S. Park Police, said they would be charged with demonstrating without
a permit, which is a misdemeanor. Park Police Sgt. L.J. McNally said Sheehan and
the others would be taken to a processing center where they would be fingerprinted
and photographed, then given a ticket and released. The process would take several
hours, he said. Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in an ambush
in Sadr City, Iraq, last year. She attracted worldwide attention last month with
her 26-day vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch.

Several hundred
protesters in D.C. Sheehan was among several hundred demonstrators who
marched around the White House and then stopped in front and began singing and
chanting "Stop the war now!" Organizers had said some planned to be arrested.
The demonstration is part of a broader antiwar effort on Capitol Hill organized
by United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group. Representatives from antiwar
groups were meeting Monday with members of Congress to urge them to work to end
the war and bring home the troops.

THE
RATS ARE DESERTING THE SINKING SHIP

All is not
well in the Bush republican camp. (One wonders whether Bush's little Ozzie 'mate'
is sniffing the change of wind yet...ed) Doug Thompson of Capital Hill
Blue 26, September 2005 wrote:

"That sound you hear is the stampede
of Republicans running like hell from George W. Bush. The GOP faithful head for
the exits, finally aware that close association with the President and his failed
Presidency could spell doom for them in the midterm elections next year. Conservatives
lead the rats off the sinking ship. They've had enough of Bush's big-spending,
budget-busting antics. "Conservatives have long been worried about federal finances,"
says Republican Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida. "Now that worry is turning into frustration
and anger."

Republicans who joined in the frenzy to approve record amounts
of aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina now realize they gave Bush a blank check
without any notion of how he intends to pay the bill. "It would be nice if he
would at least give us some idea of how he intends to finance Gulf Coast rebuilding,"
says Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana. "Vision is lacking," says GOP
Senator Ralph Voinovich of Ohio. "We're floundering." Republican strategists complain
that GOP dissatisfaction with Bush is reaching epidemic proportions.

Senior
Republicans admit privately they expect to see some GOP candidates distance themselves
from Bush. "There are so many Bush naysayers because of Iraq, there's a piling
on effect going on," complains Republican consultant Chris Depino of New Haven,
Conn. While anger over the Iraq war contributed to the growing dissatisfaction
with Bush, it was the Katrina FUBAR that pushed most over the edge.

"The
breaking of the Bush spell opens the way for leaders of both parties to declare
their independence and shape a more appropriate national agenda," writes columnist
E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post. "The federal budget, already a mess
before Katrina, is now a laughable document. Finding a way forward in - and out
of - Iraq will require creativity from those not implicated in the administration's
mistakes. Concludes Dionne: "The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians
in both parties realise that, the better for them - and the country. Recent months
have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans that President Bush's
government doesn't work. His policies are failing, his approach to leadership
is detached and self-indulgent, his way of politics has produced a divided, angry
and dysfunctional public square. We dare not go on like this."

NATIONAL
WEEKEND - PASTOR DANNY NALLIAH

Last call for
the National Weekend: Pastor Danny Nalliah from Catch the Fire Ministries has
accepted an invitation to present a paper "A Christian's Right to Free Speech,"
at the National Seminar on the Saturday (morning) 8th October. Now is the
time to make bookings for the National Weekend's "New Times Dinner", Seminar and
Divine Service and Conference. Mr. Paul Fromm, Director of the Canadian Association
for Free Expression will also be one of the guest speakers.

Dates are:
The "59th New Times Dinner", Friday, 7th October. Seminar: Saturday, 8th October.
Divine Service and Conference, Sunday, 9th October, 2005. The venue is The
Hume Inn, 406 Wodonga Place, Albury, NSW - just over the border from Victoria.
Prices are: "New Times" Dinner $30.00 per person. Seminar: $20.00 per person Make
out Money Orders/Cheques to Australian League of Rights and post to: Box 1052
GPO Melbourne 3001.

PAUL
FROMM FOR MELBOURNE MEETING

Topic: Warning to
Australians: How We Lost Freedom of Speech In Canada.

Date: 12
October, 2005. Time: 1pm. In the Meeting Room of the Heritage Book Shop, 145 Russell
Street, Melbourne. Paul Fromm, is the Director of the Canadian Association for
Free Expression (CAFÉ). Mr. Fromm is a tireless public speaker, lecturing
from coast to coast yearly in Canada and up to 15 times a year in the U.S. He
has also appeared at conferences in Italy and Russia.

The Canadian Association
for Free Expression has intervened in some of Canada's most controversial free
speech cases, including the Zundel Internet case. CAFÉ raises funds for the many
victims of Canada's repressive anti-free speech legislation, holds regular public
meetings across Canada, and tries to raise public consciousness about the precious
rights being yanked away.

POWERS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNOR GENERAL

At the
League of Rights' annual "Frank Bawden Memorial Dinner", Dr. David Mitchell
outlined the Constitutional responsibilities and duties of the Governor General.
Which leads us to ask -- Sale of Telstra: Can the Australian people
join together on this one important issue and convince the Governor-General to
act on their behalf?Surely telecommunications is a vital national public utility
and should not be in the hands of foreigners nor potential enemies - and what
about our military defence?

Send to the Mayo Tape Library, Box 6 Hahndorf,
SA 5245 for the Frank Bawden Memorial Dinner address by constitutional authority
Dr. David Mitchell - $6.00 posted - and then ask yourself, can the Australian
people forget their differences and come together on this one most important issue?
Is there a constitutional power the people can insist the Governor General use
to still block the sale of Telstra?

AUDIO
TAPES OF DAVID MITCHELL'S BRILLIANT ADDRESSES AVAILABLE

Seminar:
"The Spirit of Australia's Constitution and History".

South Australians
were treated to a veritable historical, legal and philosophical feast by Dr. David
Mitchell at the "Spirit of Australia's Constitution and History" seminar recently
held in Adelaide. One person commended us for having the foresight to invite
such a man of deep understanding, knowledge and wisdom and encouraged us to "bring
him back again".

Dr. Mitchell deals with some of the wild claims circulating
among some of Australia's "freedom movements". Some examples:·
Because the Commonwealth Constitution was originally a British Act of Parliament
it is not 'legal' in Australia. · Documents used to appoint Australia's Governor-General
are 'illegal', therefore he is not legally appointed. · The 'half-truthful'
claims of some secessionist movements and what those claims mean in law. · The
real facts about the ruling in the England and Wales High Court Chancery Division
of a case brought before The Honourable Mr. Justice Lightman, largely designed
by Mr. Ian Henke of Hastings, Victoria. Mr. Henke and a group of other Australians
sought a decision invalidating the whole of Australia's Commonwealth Constitution
Act. Dr. Mitchell dealt with the Appeal and what the Court's decision actually
meant. · It appears the editor of "It's Time" newspaper has fallen into the
trap of believing some of the wild claims. In an article "Constitution in jeopardy
- once again," Issue 110, which outlines the details of Mr. Henke's first appeal
to the England and Wales High Court, the editor claims: "The case of course does
expose the invalidity of all present Australian authority, but we always knew
that." · Can we respectfully suggest "It's Time" editor and readers purchase
the tapes and listen to what Dr. Mitchell has to say on the matters raised. ·
An appeal to 'freedom movements' not to seek to destabilise Australia's legal
structure and to be more constructive in their actions. · And much, much more.

Although the sessions were also filmed, at present the sessions are
available only in Audio Tape form from the Mayo Tape Library. Mayo Tapes have
packaged the set of six tapes for the price of $30.00 posted. Order your copies
now by sending a Cheque/Money Order to: Mayo Tapes, Box 6, Hahndorf, S.A. Don't
forget to include your return address.